C  M 


Z   /& 


JitttAR* 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA—  BERKELEY 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or  on  the 
date  to  which  renewed. 


Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


1 1  8  1955  LU 


NOV.  3    13C576 


REC'0 


4  '65  -3PM 


LD  21-100m-l,'54(1887sl6)476 


LOAN 


EP  25  1972 


ENGLISH 
WALNUTS 


WHAT  YOU  NEED  TO  KNOW 
ABOUT  PLANTING,  CULTIVA- 
TING AND  HARVESTING  THIS 
MOST  DELICIOUS  OF  NUTS 


(Complltd  by  WALTER  Fox  ALLEN) 
M 

(Copyright  1912) 


AGRIC.  DEPT, 

MAIN  LIBRARY 


OO  ~TU\ 

V/3AU 
Foreword. 

REALIZING    the    tremendous    in- 
terest that  is  now  being  directed 
by    owners    of    country    estates 
everywhere  to  the  culture  of  the  Persian 
or  English  Walnut,  I  have  compiled  this 
little  book  with  the  idea   of   supplying 
the  instruction   needed  on  the  planting, 
cultivation  and  harvesting  of  this  most 
delicious  of  all  nuts. 

I  have  gathered  the  material  herein 
presented  from  a  large  number  of  trust- 
worthy sources,  using  only  such  portions 
of  each  as  would  seem  to  be  of  prime 
importance  to  the  intending  grower. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  to  numer- 
ous cultivators  of  the  nut  in  all  sections  of 
the  country. 

I  have  aimed  at  accuracy  and  brevity 
and  hope  the  following  pages  will  furnish 
just  that  practical  information  which  I 
have  felt  has  long  been  desired. 

THE  COMPILER. 


English    H^aln  u  ts. 


VIEWED  as  a  comparatively  new  in- 
dustry, the  culture  of  the  Persian  or 
English  Walnut  is  making  remark- 
able strides  in  this  country.    Owners  of 
farms  and  suburban  estates  everywhere 
are  becoming  interested  in  the  raising  of 
this  delicious  article   of  food,  thousands 
of  trees  being  set  out  every  year. 

There  are  two  important  reasons  for 
the  rapidly  growing  enthusiasm  that  is 
being  manifested  toward  the  English 
Walnut:  First,  its  exceptional  value  as  a 
food  property  is  becoming  widely  recog- 
nized, one  pound  of  walnut  meat  being 
equal  in  nutriment  to  eight  pounds  of 


Page  Fi 


.steak,'  Secondly,  its  superior  worth  as 
an  brnamental  shade  tree  is  admitted  by 
everyone  who  knows  the  first  thing  about 
trees.  For  this  purpose  there  is  nothing 
more  beautiful.  With  their  wide-spread- 
ing branches  and  dark-green  foliage,  they 
are  a  delight  to  the  eye.  Unlike  the 
leaves  of  some  of  our  shade  trees,  those 
of  this  variety  do  not  drop  during  the 
Summer  but  adhere  until  late  in  the  Fall, 
thus  making  an  unusually  clean  tree  for 
lawn  or  garden.  In  addition  to  all  this, 
the  walnut  is  particularly  free  from  scale 
and  other  pests. 

Up  to  the  present  time,  the  English 
Walnut  has  been  more  largely  in  demand 
as  a  shade  tree  than  as  a  commercial 
proposition;  in  fact,  so  little  attention 
has  been  given  to  the  nuts  themselves 
that  there  are,  comparatively  speaking, 
few  large  producing  orchards  in  the 
United  States,  the  greater  portion  of  the 
total  yield  of  walnuts  being  procured 
from  scattered  field  and  roadside  trees. 
It  is  a  little  difficult  to  understand  why 
they  should  have  been  so  neglected  when 


Page  Six 


Six  YEAR  OLD  BEARING  ENGLISH  WALNUT  TREE 


there  are  records  of  single  trees  bearing' 
as  much  as  800  pounds  of  nuts  in  one 
year. 

In  1895  this  country  produced  about 
4,000,000  pounds,  and  more  than  16,000- 
000  pounds  of  English  Walnuts  in  1907, 
with  a  proportionate  annual  increase 
each  year  to  the  present.  But,  when  it  is 
known  that  the  United  States  is  consum- 
ing yearly  about  50,000,000  pounds  of 
nuts,  with  the  demand  constantly  increas- 
ing, thereby  necessitating  the  importation 
annually  of  something  more  than  25,- 
000,000  pounds,  the  wonderful  possibil- 
ities of  the  industry  in  this  country, 
from  a  purely  business  view  point,  will 
readily  be  appreciated.  And  of  course 
the  market  price  of  the  walnut  is  keeping 
step  with  the  consumption,  having  ad- 
vanced from  15  to  20  cents  a  pound  in 
the  past  few  years. 

In  California  the  nut  industry  is  be- 
coming a  formidable  rival  of  ^  Rival  of 


the   orange;  in   fact,  there   are 
more  dollars  worth  of  nuts  (all 


the  Orange 


varieties)  shipped  from  the  state  now  per 

Page  Seven 


year  than  oranges.  One  grower  is  shipping 
$136,000  worth  of  English  Walnuts  a  year 
while  another  man,  with  an  orchard  just 
beginning  to  bear,  is  getting  about  $200 
an  acre  for  his  crop. 

No  standard  estimate  can  at  present 
be  placed  on  the  yield  per  acre  of  orchards 
in  full  bearing,  but  the  growers  are  confi- 
dent that  they  will  soon  be  deriving  from 
$800  to  $1600  per  acre,  this  figure  being 
based  on  the  number  of  individual  trees 
which  are  already  producing  from  $90  to 
$120  a  year.  The  success  with  the  nut  in 
California  can  be  duplicated  in  the  East 
providing  certain  hardy  varieties  are 
planted;  and  in  the  few  instances  where 
orchards  have  been  started  in  the  East, 
great  things  have  already  been  done  and 
still  greater  are  expected  in  the  next  few 
years. 

But  where  did  this  walnut  originate? 
Origin  of       What    is    its    history?     Juglans 

the  English    Re#ia  (nut  of  the  Sods)  Persi.an 

Walnut          Walnut,     called    also    Madeira 

Nut  and  English   Walnut,  is  a 

native  of  Western,  Central  and  probably 

Page  Eight 


Eastern  Asia,  the  home  of  the  peach  and 
the  apricot.  It  was  known  to  the  Greeks, 
who  introduced  it  from  Persia  into  Eu- 
rope at  an  early  day,  as  "Persicon"  or 
"Persian"  nut  and  "Basilicon"  or  "Royal" 
nut.  Carried  from  Greece  to  Rome,  it 
became  "Juglans"  (name  derived  from 
Jo  vis  and  glans,  an  acorn;  literally  "Ju- 
piter's Acorn",  or  "the  Nut  of  the  Gods"). 
From  Rome  it  was  distributed  through- 
out Continental  Europe,  and  according 
to  Loudon,  it  reached  England  prior  to 
1562.  In  England  it  is  generally  known 
as  the  walnut,  a  term  of  Anglo-Saxon 
derivation  signifying  "foreign  nut".  It 
has  been  called  Madeira  Nut,  presumably 
because  the  fruit  was  formerly  imported 
into  England  from  the  Madeira  Islands, 
where  it  is  yet  grown  to  some  extent. 
In  America  it  has  commonly  been  known 
as  English  Walnut  to  distinguish  it  from 
our  native  species.  From  the  fact  that 
of  all  the  names  applied  to  this  nut  "Per- 
sian" seems  to  have  been  the  first  in 
common  use,  and  that  it  indicates  approx- 
imately the  home  of  the  species,  the  name 
"Persian  Walnut"  is  regarded  as  most 


Page  Nine 


suitable,  but  inasmuch  as  "English  Wal- 
nut" is  better  known  here,  we  shall  use 
that  name  in  this  treatise. 

As  a  material  for  the  manufacture  of 
gunstocks  and  furniture  the  timber  of 
the  nut  was  long  in  great  demand  through- 
out Europe  and  high  prices  were  paid  for 
it.  Early  in  the  last  century  as  much  as 
$3,000  was  paid  for  a  single  large  tree  for 
the  making  of  gunstocks. 

Everything  depends  upon  the  planting 
and  cultivation  of  English  Walnuts  as 

.  indeed     it    does    of    all    other 

ng  and  f mits  f rom  wj^ich  the  yery  best 

Cultivation  results  are  desired.  The  follow- 
ing general  rules  should  be  thoroughly 
mastered. 

PLANT  ENGLISH  WALNUT  TREES: 

On  any  well-drained  land  where  the 
sub-soil  moisture  is  not  more  than 
ten  or  twelve  feet  from  the  surface. 

Wherever  Oaks,  Black  Walnuts  or 
other  tap-root  nut  trees  will  grow. 
Forty  to  sixty  feet  apart. 

Page  Ten 


In  holes  eighteen  inches  in  diameter 

and  thirty  inches  deep. 
Two  inches  deeper  than  the  earth 

mark  showing  on  the  tree. 

AND  REMEMBER: 

That  the  trees  need  plenty  of  good, 
rich  soil  about  their  roots. 

That  the  trees  should  be  inclined 
slightly  toward  prevailing  winds. 

That  the  trees  should  not  be  cut 
back. 

That  the  ground  cannot  be  packed 
too  hard  around  the  roots  and  the 
tree. 

That  the  trees  should  be  mulched  in 
the  Fall. 

That  the  ground  should  be  kept  cul- 
tivated around  the  trees  during 
the  Spring  and  Summer. 

That  English  Walnut  trees  should  be 
transplanted  while  young,  as  they 
will  often  double  in  size  the  year 
the  tap-root  reaches  the  sub-soil 
moisture  (that  is,  the  moist  earth). 


Page  Eleven 


That  tap-root  trees  are  the  easiest 
of  all  to  transplant  if  the  work  is 
done  while  the  trees  are  young  and 
small. 

That  trees  sometimes  bear  the  third 
year  after  transplanting  three- 
year-old  trees  where  the  sub-soil 
moisture  is  within  six  or  eight  feet 
of  the  surface. 

That  the  age  of  bearing  depends 
largely  on  the  distance  the  tap- 
root has  to  grow  to  reach  the  sub- 
soil moisture. 

The  growth  of  the  English  Walnut  is 

different  from  that  of  most  fruit  trees. 

The  small  trees  grow  about  six  inches  the 

first  year,  tap-root  the  same;  the 

Peculiarities    second   year   they   grow   about 

of  Growth       twelve  inches,  tap-root  the  same ; 

the  third  year  they  grow  about 

eighteen  inches,  tap-root  nearly  as  much. 

For   the   first   three   years  the  tap-root 

seems  to  gain  most  of  the  nourishment, 

and   at  the  end  of    the  third  year,   or 

about  that  time,  the  tree  itself  starts  its 

real  growth.     After  the  tap-root  reaches 

Page  T<wf/<ve 


the  sub-soil  moisture,  the  tree  often 
grows  as  much  in  one  year  as  it  has  in  the 
preceding  three  or  four.  If  the  trees  are 
transplanted  previous  to  the  time  that 
the  tap-root  reaches  this  moisture  and 
before  the  tree  starts  its  rapid  growth, 
very  few  young  trees  are  lost  in  the  pro- 
cess of  transplanting. 

For  orchard  planting  the  trees  should 
be  placed  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  apart 
and  by  staggering  the  rows  a  greater  dis- 
tance is  gained  between  individ- 
ual trees.  Any  other  small  fruits  Orchard 
may  be  planted  in  the  orchard  Planting 
between  the  walnut  trees  or  any 
cultivated  crop  can  be  raised  satisfactorily 
on  the  same  land,  many  orchardists 
gaining  triple  use  of  the  soil  in  this  way. 
Besides,  the  cultivation  of  the  earth  in 
proximity  to  the  walnuts  proves  of  great 
benefit  to  the  trees.  Before  trees  are 
planted  the  tap-root  should  be  trimmed 
or  cut  back  and  most  if  not  all  the  lateral 
branches  trimmed  from  the  tree.  The 
tree  itself  should  not  be  cut  back  as  is 
customary  with  other  fruit  trees,  but  by 


Page  Thirteen 


leaving  the  terminal  bud  intact,  a  much 
better  shaped  tree  is  developed.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  prune  English  Walnut  trees 
except  in  cases  where  some  of  the  lower 
branches  interfere  with  cultivation. 

Cultivation  in  the  North  should  be 
stopped  about  the  first  of  August,  thus 
halting  the  growth  of  the  trees  and  giving 
them  a  chance  to  harden  their  wood  for 
Winter.  This  is  a  good  plan  to  follow  in 
the  cultivation  of  nearly  all  the  smaller 
fruit  trees. 

When  planting  on  the  lawn  for  orna- 
mental purposes  a  ring  from  two  to  three 
feet  in  diameter  should  be  cultivated 
about  the  base  of  the  tree. 

The  tender  varieties  that  have  been  used 
in  Southern  California  must  riot  be  experi- 
mented with  in  the  North,  as  they  bloom 
too  early  and  are  almost  certain 
Selection        to  be  caught  by  the  frost.   These 

f    \  T         *        * 

of  Varieties    varieties  have  been  tried  in  Nor- 
thern California  without  success, 
and  the  venture  is  quite  likely  to  be  disas- 
trous in  any  but  the  warmest  climates. 

Page  fourteen 


MR.  E.  C.  POMEROY,  GATHERING  ENGLISH  WALNUTS 
ON  His  FARM  IN  LOCKPORT,  N.  Y. 


The  uncertainty  of  a  crop  is  often  due 
to  the  very  early  blooming  of  the  kinds 
planted.  These  start  to  grow  at  the  first 
warm  spell  in  the  latter  part  of  the  Winter 
or  at  the  first  blush  of  Spring,  and  almost 
invariably  become  victims  of  frost  and 
consequently  produce  no  fruit. 

Planting  in  the  Northwest  and  the 
East  until  recently  has  been  limited  to  an 
extremely  narrow  area.  There  was  need 
of  a  variety  possessing  strong,  distinct 
characteristics,  hardy,  late  to  start  growth, 
and  with  the  pistillate  and  staminate 
blossoms  maturing  at  the  same  time  and 
bearing  a  nut  of  good  quality  and  flavor 
with  a  full  rich  meat.  This  variety  has 
now  been  found,  as  will  later  be  shown. 

English  Walnuts  grown  in  the  North 
command  from  three  to  five  cents  more  a 
pound  than  the  other  nuts  in  the  markets, 
as  the  meat  is  plumper  and  the  flavor 
better.  Most  fruit  is  at  its  best  at  the 
Northern  limit  of  its  range. 

One  experienced  grower,  in  reference 
to  transplanting  has  said:  "I  have  trans- 
planted all  the  way  from  a  year  to  six  and 


Page  fifteen 


the  trees  have  grown  and  done  well,  but 
so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  I  prefer  to 
move  them  at  three  years  of  age  or  about 
that  time.  The  best  trees  I  have  were 
transplanted  at  this  age." 

The  following  extract  on  tree  planting 
17  11      c    •       in  general,  pertaining  to  all  kinds 
5p™g   of  trees,  is  contributed  by  O.  K. 
White  of  the  Michigan  Experi- 
ment Station: 

"The  advisability  of  Fall  or  Spring 
planting  depends  upon  several  con- 
ditions. Fall  planting  has  the  advan- 
tage over  Spring  planting  in  that  the 
trees  become  firmly  established  in 
the  soil  before  Winter  sets  in,  and 
are  able  to  start  growth  in  the  Spring 
before  the  ground  can  be  marked 
and  put  in  condition  for  planting. 
This  is  important  because  the  trees 
get  a  good  growth  in  the  early  part 
of  the  season  before  the  Summer 
droughts  occur.  On  the  other  hand 
there  is  more  or  less  danger  from 
Winter  injury  during  a  severe  season 
or  from  the  drying  out  of  the  trees  if 

Page  Sixteen 


THIRTY  YEAR  OLD  PARENT  ENGLISH  WALNUT  TREES  IN 
BACKGROUND,  YOUNG  BEARING  TREE  IN  FRONT 


the  Winter  is  long  and  dry.  Fall 
planting  is  much  more  successful 
with  the  hardy  apples  and  pears  than 
it  is  with  the  tender  plums,  cherries 
and  peaches. 

"The  convenience  of  the  season 
will  determine  in  a  majority  of  cases 
whether  or  not  the  planting  shall  be 
done  in  the  Fall  or  Spring.  Very 
often  the  rush  of  the  Spring  work 
induces  the  grower  to  hurry  his  plant- 
ing, or  to  do  it  carelessly;  and  as  a 
result  a  poor  start  is  secured,  with 
crooked  rows.  Others  have  large 
crops  to  harvest  in  the  Fall  and 
would  find  it  more  convenient  to  do 
the  planting  in  the  Spring.  If  there 
is  any  doubt  as  to  the  best  time  to 
plant,  let  it  be  in  the  Spring." 

We  now  come  to  the  subject  of  fer- 
tilization.     Up   to   the   time   when   the 
young  trees  come  into  bearing, 
cultivation  and  fertilization  will    Fertilizing 
help  them  enormously,  the  cul- 
tivation   keeping   the    soil   in   condition 
to  hold  the   moisture  of    the   tree.     In 


Page  Seventeen 


fertilizing,  a  mulch  of  stable  manure  in 
the  Fall  is  considered  by  most  growers 
to  be  the  best,  but  the  following  prepara- 
tion is  thought  to  be  exceptionally  good 
for  all  young  orchards: 

Dried  blood,  1,000  pounds;  bone  meal, 
550  pounds;  sulphate  of  potash,  350 
pounds.  Total,  2,000  pounds.  This 
should  be  applied  close  up  and  about  the 
tree,  extending  out  each  year  in  a  circle 
somewhat  beyond  the  spread  of  the 
branches. 

This  provides  a  quickly  available  plant 
food,  rich  in  nitrogen  and  especially 
recommended  for  rapid  growth. 

After  the  tap-root  reaches  the  sub-soil 
moisture  it  is  well  able  to  take  care  of  the 
tree;  and  both  cultivation  and  fertiliza- 
tion may  then  be  stopped.  In  fact,  by 
this  time  practically  no  further  care  is 
needed  in  the  nut  orchard  with  the  ex- 
ception of  that  required  at  the  harvesting 
time,  and  this  is  a  pleasant  and  easy 
occupation,  especially  in  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  states  where  the  frost  opens 


Page  Eighteen 


the  shuck  and  the  nuts  drop  free  upon 
the  ground  where  they  may  be  picked 
up  and  put  into  sacks  of  110  to  120 
pounds  each,  ready  for  the  market. 

Just  before  the  first  frost  it  is  a  very 
good  idea  to  remove  all  leaves  from  the 
ground  so  that  when  the  nuts  fall  they 
can  be  readily  seen  and  gathered.  An 
excellent  method  of  accomplishing  this 
is  by  means  of  a  horse  and  rake.  The 
nuts  may  be  left  on  the  ground  to  dry  or 
may  be  removed  to  any  convenient  place 
for  that  purpose. 

There  are  three  distinct  kinds  of  Eng- 
lish Walnuts — hard-shell,   soft-shell  and 
paper-shell,  the  soft-shell  being  the  best. 
Each  of  these  three  is  divided 
into  a  number  of  varieties,  the    The 
names  of  some  of  the  more  pop-    Different 
ular   ones   being  the   Barthere,     Kinds 
Chaberte,  Cluster,  Drew,  Ford, 
Franquette,  Gant  or  Bijou,  Grand  Nob- 
lesse,    Lanfray,     Mammoth,     Mayette, 
Wiltz  Mayette,  Mesange,  Meylan,  Mis- 
sion,    Parisienne,     Poorman,     Proepar- 

Page  Nineteen 


turiens,  Santa  Barbara,  Pomeroy,  Sero- 
tina,  Sexton,  Vourey,  Concord,  Chase  and 
the  Eureka. 

The  question  of  the  best  varieties  for 
planting  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the 
South  is  somewhat  open  to  discussion, 
due  largely  to  a  lack  of  sufficient  infor- 
mation in  regard  to  some  of  the  more 
promising  kinds.  There  is  but  little 
question  that  the  best  proven  variety  for 
the  Northwest  is  the  Franquette  and  for 
the  East  and  Northeast,  the  Pomeroy. 
Both  of  these  are  good  producers  bearing 
a  fine  nut,  well  filled  with  a  white  meat 
of  excellent  flavor,  and  of  good  shape  and 
commanding  the  highest  market  prices. 
The  two  varieties  are  also  very  late  in 
starting  in  the  Spring  making  them  safe 
against  the  late  frosts.  Their  pistillate 
and  staminate  blossoms  mature  at  the 
same  time. 

The  white-meated  nut  is  far  superior 
to  any  other.  The  browning  or  staining 
is  caused  by  the  extremely  dry  heat  and 
sun  in  the  far  South.  In  the  North  or 


Page  Twenty 


ENGLISH  WALNUTS  BEAR  IN  CLUSTERS  OF  Two  TO  FIVE 


where  the  tree  has  an  abundant  thick 
foliage    the   meat  is   invariably    whiter. 

The  Mission  Nut  was  introduced  by 
the  priests   of  Los  Angeles   and  is   the 
pioneer    Persian    Walnut    of    California. 
Most  of  the  bearing  orchards  of    ji 
the  state  are  composed  of  seed-    **•    •      MI 

v  p    ii    •  rrn  iVIlSSlOn  iNUt 

ling  trees  of  this  type.  The  nut 
is  medium-sized  with  a  hard  shell  of 
ordinary  thickness.  It  suceeds  admirably 
in  a  few  favored  districts  (of  Southern 
California)  but  fails  in  productiveness 
farther  North.  Its  most  prominent  faults 
are — early  blooming,  in  consequence  of 
which  it  is  often  caught  by  the  late  frosts; 
the  irregular  and  unequal  blooming  of  its 
pistillate  and  staminate  blossoms,  and  the 
consequent  failure  of  the  former  to  be 
fertilized  and  to  develop  nuts;  and  late- 
ness in  ripening  its  wood  in  the  Fall  and 
consequent  liability  to  injury  by  frost  at 
that  time. 

The  Santa  Barbara  English  Walnut 
(soft-shell)  variety  is  about  ten  days  later 
than  the  Mission  in  starting  growth  and 


Page  Twenty-one 


in  blooming  in  the  Spring.  It  fruits  from 
four  to  six  years  from  seed  and  usually 

The  Santa       produces  a  full  crop  every  year. 

Barbara  Nut  ^  *s  no^  as  strong  a  grower  as 
the  Mission  and  more  trees  can 
be  grown  to  the  acre.  The  shells  are  thin 
and  easily  broken,  therefore  the  nuts  are 
sometimes  damaged  in  long  shipment. 
The  kernel  is  white  and  of  very  fine 
quality. 

The  Pomeroy  variety  was  started  in  a 
most  peculiar  and  interesting  way.    The 
late  Norman  Pomeroy  of  Lockport,  New 
The  York,  made  the  discovery  quite 

Pomeroy  Nut  ^Y  accident.  When  he  was  in 
Philadelphia  in  1876  visiting  the 
Centennial  Exposition,  he  awoke  one 
morning  to  be  greeted  by  the  leaves  of  a 
gorgeous  tree,  which  just  touched  his 
window  and  through  which  the  sun  shone 
brightly.  He  soon  was  examining  a  mag- 
nificent English  Walnut  tree.  On  the 
ground  directly  under  he  found  the  nuts, 
which  had  fallen  during  the  night.  Their 
flavor  was  more  delicious  and  the  meat 
fuller  than  any  he  had  ever  before  tasted. 


Page  Twenty-two 


The  shell  was  unusually  thin  and  Mr. 
Pomeroy  was  astonished,  for  he  never 
believed  the  English  Walnut  grew  in  the 
East. 

Knowing  the  varieties  grown  in  Cali- 
fornia could  not  be  raised  in  the  East  or 
North,  he  questioned  his  landlord  and 
found  that  this  particular  tree  had  been 
brought  from  Northern  Europe.  Mr. 
Pomeroy  determined  at  once  that  possibly 
this  variety  would  be  hardy  enough  for 
cultivation  in  New  York  State.  He  pro- 
cured some  of  the  nuts  and  put  them  in 
his  satchel  which  he  entrusted  to  a 
neighbor  who  was  about  to  start  home. 
The  neighbor  reached  home  all  right  and 
so  did  the  nuts — but — the  neighbor's 
children  found  the  rare  delicacies  and  ate 
all  but  seven.  They  would  doubtless 
have  eaten  these  too  but  fortunately  they 
had  slipped  into  the  lining  of  the  satchel 
where  Mr.  Pomeroy  found  them  on  his 
return  to  Lockport.  These  seven  nuts, 
which  had  so  narrow  an  escape  from  ob- 
livion, are  now  seven  beautiful  English 
Walnut  trees,  sixty  or  more  feet  high  and 


Page  Twenty-three 


the  progenitors  of  the  Pomeroy  orchards, 
all  of  which  are  now  producing  nuts  like 
the  originals — a  very  fine  quality. 

English  Walnuts  to  be  used  for  making 

pickles,   catsup,   oil   and   other  culinary 

products,  are  gathered  when  the  fruit  is 

about  half  mature  or  when  the 

Some  uses    shell  is  soft  enough  to  yield  to 

of  English    the  influence  of  cooking.     The 

Walnuts       proper  stage  can  be  determined 

by   piercing   the  nut  with  a 

needle,  a  certain  degree  of  hardness  being 

desired.     The  nut  is  often  utilized  for 

olive  oil  in  some  parts  of  Europe.     It 

takes   one   hundred   pounds   of   nuts   to 

make  eighteen  pounds  of  oil. 

In  England  the  nuts  are  preserved  fresh 
for  the  table  where  they  are  served  with 
wine.  They  are  buried  deep  in  dry  soil 
or  sand  so  as  not  to  be  reached  by  frost, 
the  sun's  rays  or  rain;  or  by  placing  them 
in  dry  cellars  and  covering  with  straw. 
Others  seal  them  up  in  tin  cans  filled 
with  sand. 


Page  Twenty-four 


As    an    illustration    of    the    hardiness 
of  the   English  Walnut,  there   is  a  tree 
at  Red  Hill,  Virginia,  which  was  brought 
from  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  when    Examples  of 
six  months  old,  planted  in  New 
York,  where  it  remained   three 
years,  then  removed   to   Staunton,  Vir- 
ginia,   and    after    two    years    taken    to 
Red  Hill.      In  consequence  of  so   many 
changes,  the  tree  at  first  died  back,  but 
is  now  thrifty — twenty  feet  high;  trunk, 
eight  inches  in  diameter  at  the  ground. 

During  several  severe  Winters,  the 
thermometer  fell  so  low  that  some  peach 
trees  and  grape  vines  growing  near  Eng- 
lish Walnuts  on  the  Pomeroy  farm  near 
Lockport,  N.  Y.  were  killed,  while  the 
nut  trees  were  not  in  the  least  injured. 


Page  Twenty-five 


The  English  Walnut 
at  its  Best. 

A  SMOOTH,  soft-shelled  nut. 
Meat  full,  with  sweet,  hickory-nut 
flavor. 

Nuts  fall  clean  and  free  from  outside 
shuck. 

Frosts  harvest  the  nuts — in  October. 

They  are  self-pruning. 

Require  no  care  after  arrival  at  bearing  age. 

An  alkali  sap  keeps  scales  and  pests  from 
the  trees. 

Blossoms  immune  from  late  frosts,  as  they 
start  late. 

Pistillate  and  Staminate  blossoms  mature 
at  same  time  in  the  best  varieties,  in- 
suring perfect  fertilization  and  pro- 
ductivity. 

Bears  more  regularly  than  other  nut  trees. 

Bears  heavier  crops  the  older  it  be- 
comes, unlike  other  fruit  trees  the  size 
and  quality  of  whose  fruit  degenerates 
with  age. 


Pagi  Twenty-six 


Interesting  Figures  about  the 
English  Walnut. 

IN  Spain   and  Southern  France  there 
are  trees  believed  to  be  more  than 
300  years  old  which  bear  from  fifteen 
to    eighteen    bushels    of    nuts     each, 
annually. 

In  Whittier,  California,  is  a  famous  tree 
which  has  been  leased  for  a  term  of 
years  at  $500. 

Orchards  seven  and  eight  years  old  bring 
all  the  way  from  $1,000  to  $2,000  per 
acre  and  are  a  fine  investment,  yielding 
from  15  to  125  per  cent,  according  to 
age. 

The  total  cost  of  producing  and  harvest- 
ing an  English  Walnut  crop  is  about 
one  and  one-half  cents  a  pound. 


Page  Twenty-sewn 


Kernels  of  Fact  about  the 
English  Walnut. 


T 


HE  United  States  consumes  more 
than  50,000,000  pounds  a  year. 


The  United  States  imports  about 
27,000,000  pounds  a  year. 

The  price  is  advancing  steadily  with  the 
demand. 

Besides  being  profitable,  the  English 
Walnut  is  a  clean,  highly  ornamental 
shade  tree. 

The  leaves  remain  on  the  tree  until  late 
in  the  Fall,  not  littering  up  the  ground 
during  the  Summer. 

English  Walnuts  are  not  only  a  rare  table 
delicacy,  but  may  be  utilized  for  catsup, 
pickles  and  oil. 

One  pound  of  walnut  meat  equals  eight 
pounds  of  steak  in  nutriment — and  is 
a  far  more  healthful  food. 

Page  Twenty-eight 


What  Luther  Btir bank 
has  to  say: 


"W 


HEN  you  plant  another  tree, 
why  not  plant  the  English 
Walnut?  Then,  besides  sen- 
timent, shade  and  leaves,  you  may 
have  a  perennial  supply  of  nuts,  the 
improved  kind  of  which  furnish  the  most 
delicious,  nutritious  and  healthful  food 
which  has  ever  been  known.  The  con- 
sumption of  nuts  is  probably  increasing 
among  all  civilized  nations  today  faster 
than  that  of  any  other  food;  and  we 
should  keep  up  with  this  growing  demand 
and  make  it  still  more  rapid  by  producing 
nuts  of  uniform  good  quality,  with  a 
consequent  increase  in  the  health  and  a 
permanent  increase  in  the  wealth  of  our- 
selves and  neighbors/' — From  Address  at 
Santa  Rosa,  California,  in  the  Fall  of  1905. 


Page  Twenty-nine 


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